


drop that (book)

by happyendingexo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Fluff, HEA_2017, Librarian Kris, M/M, Minor Kim Namjoon | Rap Monster/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's straight up fluff, non-canon!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 05:11:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13896966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyendingexo/pseuds/happyendingexo
Summary: Baekhyun likes to read in the city library and he doesn't particularly like unnecessary noise. What will happen when he finally meets the new librarian who has a habit of tripping and stumbling over himself and always ends up making the loudest noise inside the place?





	drop that (book)

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #098**
> 
> **Disclaimer:** The is a work of fiction. The names and images of the celebrities mentioned are borrowed and is not meant to represent the celebrities themselves. All original characters and plot belong to the author and is not to be reproduced and/or shared without written permission from the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** I ended up writing a fluffy KrisBaek as one does. Glad you were okay with PG, prompter! I wasn't sure how to make it that steamy that fast without being unrealistic lol. Hope you enjoy!  <3

All his life, Byun Baekhyun has found refuge in the library. It makes sense that when he’s starting out his new life in the small city of Winchester, VA, his first move had been to walk to the closest library. As soon as the smell of books had engulfed him, he had known he was home despite being in an unfamiliar city.

 

However, the constant need to study is ruining it a bit. The training period of his new job at an IT security firm requires him to pass three different certificate tests. He huffs in frustration as he pores over yet another long section on basic computer infrastructure. Theoretically this should be really interesting to him, but he’s exhausted from working 9 to whenever his boss decided work was over.

 

Running his hand through his bleached brown hair, Baekhyun sets his pencil down and takes a deep breath. _Focus, it’ll be fine._ He looks outside the window, where the last dregs of sunlight are streaming in, and smiles. The waving branches of trees outside is so different from the view he’d have in a Boston library. Plus, there’s so much light here. He loves it.

 

A bit more energized, he dives back into the book only to have his concentration shattered by a huge crash. Shaken, Baekhyun slowly looks over to his right, where a man is groaning and doubled over a fallen bookcart. There aren’t even any bumps on the floor where he fell, so he must have tripped over himself. Or the bookcart. Baekhyun is torn for a moment between letting the man silently live out his misery versus offering a helping hand.

 

Deciding that his focus is in tatters anyway, he puts his pencil down and walks over. He inwardly chuckles when he hears that the man is quietly muttering a long string of curses under his breath. Leaning over, he clears his throat. The man jolts for a moment before slowly glancing at Baekhyun, shoulders hunched in embarrassment. _So cute_. “Need some help?” Baekhyun asks, smiling his most winning smile.

 

The other man’s mouth falls open a bit as he stares back, before he realizes he’s staring. Gruffly, he says, “No, I don’t need any help. I… I got it. Please go back to what you were doing, I’m sorry to bother you.” He abruptly stands up and leaves, making Baekhyun blink after him.

 

“Ooookay then,” Baekhyun says mostly to himself then, and walks back to his original table. He pretends to continue his studying, but instead studies the guy from his peripheral vision. He must be a volunteer, Baekhyun decides. He likes how darn _tall_ the volunteer is, with spiked blonde hair and several studs in his ear. And his _hands_ , fuck. Baekhyun happened to notice the volunteer’s hands are the size of the gigantic dictionary he’s—nope, no longer holding. He breathes a sigh of relief when the book drops onto the cart instead of the floor.

 

He outwardly shakes himself. _This is no time for ogling a guy no matter how good looking he is_ , he chides himself, _and in a sacred place of reading nonetheless_. Baekhyun sighs, and somehow manages to focus again.

 

**

 

_One test down, two more to go_. Baekhyun hates that the certificate tests are three in a row, but he’s gotta do them quickly. It’ll look better on his resume if he finishes them within a month.

 

This peaceful Saturday finds him in the library again, though he wishes he could’ve gone hiking instead. A few of his coworkers had even invited him this time - but he’d had to turn them down. But he’d be able to go with them tomorrow! Hopefully get some bonding time in.

 

At least Baekhyun could enjoy this section of the test. He’d always liked cybersecurity, and it was what he was hired for anyway. Feeling confident, Baekhyun tackles a practice exam and times himself.

 

With fifteen minutes on the clock and only a handful of multiple choice questions left to mull over, he hears a lurching sound. And then a thud, a louder thud, and a _crash_.

 

In disbelief, Baekhyun looks to his left this time and sees the same volunteer from before, gaping at the three fallen bookshelves. _I thought those were like, nailed to the ground_. _How the heck did he manage that?_ Baekhyun only barely manages to stifle a giggle at the completely perplexed expression on the volunteer’s face, not wanting to hurt his pride more.

 

Anyway, he knew better this time than to offer his help, and besides, he wouldn’t be really able to help with his small stature. Sighing again, Baekhyun decides on his original gut answers for the multiple choice questions he’d been waffling on, and closes the book. He’d check the answers when he got home.

 

Grabbing the other books, Baekhyun walks up to the front desk and grins at the librarian sitting there. “Mind helping me with these?” he asks rhetorically, hefting four cyberinfrastructure textbooks onto the counter and placing his library card on top.

 

Kim Seokjin, or Jin for short, beams back at him. “Not at all, Baekhyunnie,” he singsongs as he scans Baekhyun’s library card and takes the books. “Let me grab the books you’ve reserved too.”

 

Baekhyun watches as Jin putters around behind the counter, lightly humming a tune. He’d been lucky to meet Jin so early. They were fast friends, becoming gossip buddies within the first week of Baekhyun being there. Something to do with Baekhyun meeting Jin in the library and then helping him home from a local bar later that night. Though Baekhyun hasn’t had much time lately, he wants to hang out with Jin more, know more people in the area.

 

Speaking of people in the area…. “Hey Jin, I think you should reassign your newest volunteer.” He refrains from telling Jin he thinks the volunteer is cute.

 

“Newest volunteer? Oh, do you mean the new librarian? Ah, here they are.”

 

Baekhyun blinks at Jin, who has returned with five more books. “You’re kidding me. He’s a librarian?”

 

Jin tilts his head questioningly at Baekhyun as he scans a book. _A master at multi-tasking. Or just gossiping while working_. “Yes, that is the lovely Kris Wu. He’s a local brat but he’s good looking for that age. Has he caught your attention or something?”

 

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun replies, “That’s one way of putting it. The way he trips and stumbles over literally everything is quite attention-grabbing.”

 

Scanning the last book, Jin laughs. “Young Kris is just getting used to the job. He’ll be fiiine.”

 

Baekhyun has his doubts, but he simply says, “If you say so.” _Small city libraries are so laid-back about their staff, this would never fly in a big city_.

 

“I’m certain. Also, I know he’s single. If you want an ~introduction~, let me know,” Jin says, waggling his eyebrows.

 

He laughs. “Not any time soon, but… I may take you up on that offer.” Baekhyun has a small twinge of regret when he sees the fire ignite in Jin’s eyes, but shrugs. Too late now.

 

“Oh-ho. I see,” is all Jin says before he returns to business. “These will be out for three weeks, but you can renew them online. Good luck on your tests, Baekhyunnie.”

 

Smiling, Baekhyun says, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

 

“I hope Kris isn’t bothering you too much. We’re a bit short-staffed at the moment and he’s just kinda clumsy, like my husband.” Jin sighs with an exasperated fondness. “I would never let my husband come to the library though. He’d find a way to somehow set it on fire.”

 

Baekhyun isn’t sure how serious Jin is. “Well, I’d like to meet your husband sometime, in a… fireproof place. If that exists around here.”

 

Jin reaches over the counter and ruffles Baekhyun’s hair. “Come over for dinner tomorrow!”

 

“Sounds good! Talk to you later.”

 

**

 

Two tests down! Baekhyun is fairly sure he passed the last one by the skin of his neck, but a pass is a pass. He thought that he’d find it easy but he’d been overconfident apparently. _Not going to do that again_ , he had promised himself before entering the library. But studying for the third and last one is proving to be really hard, through no fault of Baekhyun’s own.

 

He blames it on the noises coming from the shelves in front of him, which are fraying his sanity. Sighing, Baekhyun puts his elbow on the table, propping up his chin with his hand. For every book Kris manages to shelve, he drops five in sickening thumps on the floor. It physically pains Baekhyun to see one book drop on the floor, let alone several.

 

After watching for a minute, Baekhyun makes up his mind to intervene. For the books.

 

**

 

Kris wishes his hands weren’t so fucking big. The books are sometimes so small and he just can’t help but fumble with them. Not that the size of the book really matters. He fumbles with the larger ones too.

 

Sighing, he cracks his back. He doesn’t understand why he got stuck with the manual labor for the past few months when he got hired for his IT skills. IT SKILLS. He’s too clumsy for life. Well, it had been something Jin and the others said about learning the basics of being a librarian. But surely Kris isn’t actually learning something by dropping books on his big feet.

 

He’s itching to get behind a computer and fix up the library’s catalogue system, which is horrendously unorganized. Metadata all over the place, and no data dictionary to be seen. His hometown is a relatively small city, but still.

 

So he’s a bit distracted. Sue him. This isn’t what he wanted to do.

 

“Ow,” he hisses as he drops another book on his foot. Crouching, he nurses his sore foot, and then slumps to the ground, careful not to lean on the bookshelves. He’d already learned his lesson with that one.

 

Kris feels defeated by the surprising amount of physical labor that comes with the job of being a librarian. It’s not even that it’s physically hard, it’s just weirdly straining on different back muscles. But it’s way better than his previous job as an accountant. After three years of dealing with incompetent people, he had been pretty done with that.

 

“Excuse me.” Kris jumps at the voice, but it’s a familiar one. He looks up, expecting the pretty boy and is not disappointed by what he sees. It’s the same library patron who’d approached him on his first day on the job with a helping hand, and Kris had been too fucking embarrassed and awkward to take it.

 

Today, the patron’s eyes are lined and looking sharp but tired. It’s a workday after all, not a Saturday like the days he’s usually here. Not that Kris noticed or anything. He refuses to let his eyes wander down, but his mind fills in the gaps. Slim body, hips Kris would love to fit his hands around, thick thighs, and a beautiful ass. “Huh?” Kris manages to say intelligently, shoving his decidedly R-rated thoughts out of his mind.

 

The patron lifts an eyebrow. _Fuck, that’s sexy and cute at the same time how_? “I normally wouldn’t mind—actually scratch that, I do mind books dropping, but especially now. I really need to focus today.” And now he’s pouting. Great, Kris is officially fucked.

 

“Sorry,” he replies sheepishly. “I don’t know, I have like big hands and I’m just… not cut out for this part of the job.”

 

The giggle he gets in reply melts his insides a bit. “I noticed.” _Wait, noticed that I’m not cut out for the jobs or that I have big hands? Or both?_ “But yeah. Maybe you should give it a break and finish tomorrow or something? Or I could help you?”

 

Kris blinks at him. “You’d do that?” he asks, and his voice cracks a little. He winces. _Shit, I sound so needy_.

 

But the smile that spreads on the patron’s face is blinding and makes Kris feel like he’s super intelligent. He is also completely besotted by the way the man’s dark eyes narrow into crescents. “Haha, it sounds like a win-win situation. Shelving books destresses me, and the books get saved from being dropped. And your poor foot gets saved.”

 

“Shit, you noticed that?”

 

“I’m pretty observant. Also, my name is Baekhyun. I didn’t think you knew that.”

 

“I’m Kris.” Kris accepts Baekhyun’s hand and gives it a firm shake. “Now I know the name of my saving grace. Lead the way.”

 

He’s quickly delegated to the simple task of handing Baekhyun the right book at the right shelf - he can manage the Dewey Decimal system at least, if not the actual handling of the book. They get the shelves stocked in no time, and when Kris brings the cart back with Baekhyun following behind him, Jin looks up in surprise. “Oh hey, didn’t expect you back so soon. And you brought a friend!”

 

Inwardly groaning at Jin’s motherly behavior, he dutifully replies, “Yes, I did. He’s been a great help.” Though he stays in front of the counter, Baekhyun bounds to the counter closest to Jin and grins at him too. _So he’s this smiley with everyone?_ Kris thinks ruefully, _I guess I’m not special after all_. He’d been hoping… but no, it was silly.

 

“I had to,” Baekhyun is saying to Jin, “otherwise every other poor book would have ended up on the floor.” Both of them shake their heads at Kris, who frowns.

 

“No fair ganging up on me like this,” he pouts.

 

“Hey Kris, hey Baek.” Kris startles at the interjection - he hadn’t even realized Namjoon was there. He raises a hand in greeting to the lanky man sitting in the corner. Namjoon makes to get up but Jin makes a tsking noise and he sits down again, hands up in surrender. “I know, I know, I can be here as long as I’m sitting and not touching anything.”

 

“I hate doing that to him but it’s necessary,” Jin tuts, and goes over to give his husband a kiss. “Thanks for understanding.”

 

Kris watches as Baekhyun goes over and starts up a conversation with Namjoon. _What a social butterfly_ , he manages to think before he’s dragged to the side by Jin. “This is your chance, take it!” Jin whisper-hisses.

 

“Huh?” Kris looks at him dumbly, not comprehending. “What do you mean, chance?”

 

Jin does a dramatic eyeroll. He’s good at those. “I mean, go ask Baekhyun out!”

 

He resists the urge to pout, or at least gives his best try. “I don’t even know if he’s like, single.” His eyes can’t help but be drawn to Baekhyun as he says this, wistfully gazing at Baekhyun’s petite, fine features. “He’s just so….” Kris trails off and flails his arms a bit.

 

“Yes, yes,” Jin captures Kris’s flailing arms and easily takes Kris’s hands into his own. “But I happen to know that he’s single, he’s looking, and you’re his type.”

 

Head snapping back to Jin, Kris feels his mouth fall open a bit. “Damn Jin, how do you know all this?” It doesn’t even cross his mind to question Jin. Kris knows Jin’s always right about these things.

 

Tossing his hair, Jin preens, “I’m good, aren’t I?”

 

It’s Kris’s turn to roll his eyes but he successfully resists that urge. He also knows it’s better not to unnecessarily antagonize Jin. “You are….” he mumbles, drifting off.

 

“Okay then, onward Christian soldier!” Jin declares and shoves him towards Baekhyun. As expected, Kris stumbles and suavely catches himself on the counter next to Baekhyun. He poses, pretending like he meant to do that, and catches a small smile fleet across Baekhyun’s face. It makes his heart race a little more.

 

In the corner of Kris’s eye, he can see Jin going to the PA system next to Namjoon and pick it up. “The library will be closing in ten minutes. Please gather all of your belongings and check out within the next five minutes.”

 

Baekhyun pushes himself off the counter and stretches, saying, “Well, if you’ll excuse me I have to go pack up my stuff.” He takes off at a brisk pace and instinctively, Kris follows him before realizing it’s pretty awkward. But it’s too late, he has followed Baekhyun all the way back to his original table and stays standing next to it. Baekhyun smiles at him and Kris is dazzled. “What’s the matter?”

 

“Uh,” Kris replies intelligently. “How do I do this?” he mutters to himself, already feeling some oncoming flailing. He looks down at his feet.

 

In one smooth motion, Baekhyun slings his packed bag over his shoulder and reaches up to ruffle Kris’s hair. Usually Kris doesn’t like that, but he finds that with Baekhyun doing it, he doesn’t mind. “Yes, you can ask me to dinner, and yes I’ll let you pay for me.”

 

It’s all Kris can do to completely restrain himself from kissing Baekhyun because he’s so damn cute. This leaves him staring in happy shock at Baekhyun before recovering and stuttering, “O-okay, uh, yeah! I need to, um, repay you anyway. For shelves. Restocking them.”

 

Baekhyun grins that small smile at him and this time, his eyes turn upward into upside-down crescents. Kris is in love, maybe. “Glad we got that out of the way. Let’s get going then?”

 

As they walk out, Kris flashes Jin two thumbs up and bumps into the library scanners. He splutters and glares at the scanners for being in his way. Baekhyun and Jin both facepalm and chuckle,while Namjoon comes over and pats him consolingly on the back. “Happens to the best of us.”

 

Luckily, no more mishaps occur on the five minute walk to Fun Thai-mes. The waiter, Chanyeol, not-so-discreetly elbows Kris a few times as he escorts them to his table. “Nice catch!” he whispers loudly and skips away.

 

If Kris blushed, he is sure he would be beet red right now. As it is, he kind of wants to die. “I regret all my friend-making decisions,” he tells Baekhyun, who is covering his mouth and smiling with his eyes. Kris could look into his eyes forever. He’s so fucked.

 

“I get it, sorta. Small towns, eh?” Baekhyun says amiably. He sips at his water and then leans closer. “So tell me about yourself. All I know are your darkest secrets, courtesy of Jin.”

 

“Well I’m fucked,” Kris groans, but he’s smiling anyway. He leans forward too and says, “You don’t even need to learn his ways.”

 

“Oh? How come?” Baekhyun’s eyes are dancing with merriment.

 

“Because if you keep smiling at me, I’ll tell you anything and everything.” _Okay, maybe that’s enough clumsy flirting for now_. Kris starts to tell Baekhyun about how he’s grown up in Winchester his whole life, how he went to a year of undergraduate in University of Arizona, got terribly homesick, and moved back to finish his degree in DC. He’d studied accounting, hated actual accounting, and got lucky landing this job.

 

As Kris had talked, Baekhyun nodded along earnestly, oohing and aahing at the appropriate times. Before the silence stretches too long, he jumps in with his own story, telling Kris about how he’s grown up in the city all his life but feels like he fits in here, studied computer science and is starting an IT job.

 

They switch topics to talking about the postgrad life, and how it was still an adjustment for Kris but it’s going to be a tough adjustment for Baekhyun. He admits to still feeling lost in Winchester, at which point Kris moves to take Baekhyun’s hand in assurance. Instead, he spills the soup Chanyeol is trying to place on their table. “Oh man oh boy,” Kris says as Baekhyun and Chanyeol both scramble for napkins. “That did not just happen.”

 

The only warning Kris gets is a mouth twitch before Baekhyun breaks into laughter. “Oh my god you. It did just happen.”

 

“I can’t believe I spilled the soup.” He’s still staring dumbly at the mess, but it’s mostly cleaned up by now.

 

“I certainly can,” Baekhyun snickers, and pats his shoulder. “It’s okay, I’m expecting it by now.”

 

Kris whines, “I’m really not usually this clumsy. Just around you.” He blinks. “I didn’t mean to say the last part, please forget that. Wow.”

 

Laughing again, Baekhyun takes the unspilled soup. “I don’t mind, but,” he stops and winks, “I would like to be around you more. I hope you’ll get acclimated to me.”

 

“You never get acclimated to a masterpiece,” Kris counters, knowing how cheesy he is being but unable to help himself.

 

To his surprise, Baekhyun’s cheeks take a faint dusting of pink. It’s his turn to mutter, “No fair,” before looking determinedly at Kris. “You’re not going to beat me at cheesy,” Baekhyun declares before taking a spoonful and blowing on it. He offers it to Kris, who willingly takes some.

 

“Yum,” Kris says, making sure to lick his lips. He smiles when Baekhyun’s eyes dart down and back up.

 

“Now no more for you. You spilled, you pay for it by going without.” But these are empty words, as Baekhyun ends up feeding half of the soup to Kris anyway. Their main dishes arrive soon after, and Baekhyun lets out a moan at how yummy it is. Kris feels his pants going embarrassingly tight.

_Not now_ , he tells himself, and lets himself get lost in the conversation with Baekhyun. It’s so easy. Baekhyun is a fantastic storyteller, but always asks leading questions so Kris feels like he is talking half the time. It’s the most comfortable he’s ever felt on a first date, let alone a date where he’s shown his clumsiness literally the whole time.

 

He also likes making Baekhyun laugh, even when sometimes it’s at his own expense. Sometimes he gets the feeling Baekhyun laughs because Baekhyun likes him so much. It makes him feel warm inside. Right now Baekhyun is laughing because Kris is saying, “You know, I can understand you as a cool city man myself.”

 

“Oh really?” Baekhyun asks, with a smirk. “Have you even ever been to a real city, like Boston or NYC?”

 

“Been to one big city, been to them all. In fact, you could even say I’m a galaxy man.”

 

There’s tears in Baekhyun’s eyes now. Catching his breath, he banters, “Well as long as you don’t pick me up in a spaceship I think we’re good.” Chanyeol comes and clears away the rest of their food, leaving the bill. Baekhyun suddenly puts his hand on Kris’s as they both reach for the bill, saying, “Hey, um.”

 

Kris looks up at the touch on his hand, startled. “What’s up?” he asks worriedly. The date had been going so well, but now Baekhyun was biting his lip and looking… guilty?

 

“I know I said it earlier but… you don’t have to pay for me. That was a joke.”

 

He likes the look of Baekhyun’s hand on his, and turns his hand around to hold Baekhyun’s. He likes it even more when Baekhyun squeaks at the sudden hold, and then outright squawks when Kris takes the bill anyway with his other hand. “I insist,” Kris says softly, running his thumb over the ridge of Baekhyun’s knuckles. “But if you’d like to go on a second date, we can… maybe take turns paying?”

 

And ugh. What he likes most is this beautiful smile spreading across Baekhyun’s face, lighting it up and making him literal sunshine. “Okay. I’d love a second date.”

 

“Okay,” is all Kris can manage as he ducks his head and awkwardly attempts to fish in his wallet with his left hand. Chuckling, Baekhyun withdraws his hand and Kris whines.

 

“Silly, you need both hands or else you’ll probably drop your money all over the floor.”

 

“I hate it when you make sense,” Kris grumbles as he finishes paying.

 

“We can hold hands when you walk me home?” Baekhyun says, not without a hint of mirth.

 

“I’d walk you to the moon if you wanted me to.” They stand up and wave at Chanyeol as they leave the Thai place.

 

Unsurprisingly, Baekhyun’s house is closer than the moon. It’s a few blocks away from both the restaurant and the library. Kris marvels at how conveniently located it is. But it also means he’s now scuffing his feet at the entrance, not wanting this date to end. “Um, I had a good time.” They’re still holding hands, and Baekhyun is on the first step of the front stoop of his apartment building.

 

“Me too!” Baekhyun says, and pulls Kris closer to him. “You’re fun to talk to.” Kris opens his arms as he comes closer and Baekhyun leans in to the hug. “And you give nice hugs,” he murmurs into Kris’s ear.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Kris blurts, because it’s all he wants right now, so badly he can’t imagine wanting anything else. He’s also afraid it might be a dream.

 

He can feel Baekhyun chuckle into his ear, and then pull back a little so he can press a kiss to Kris’s lips. All Kris feels is a fleeting touch of very soft lips before Baekhyun retreats. “Good night!” he squeaks before buzzing himself into the apartment and running up the stairs.

 

Kris can feel a dopey smile crossing his face and does a little jump for joy as he’s walking home.

 

**

 

Baekhyun’s happier than ever as he runs out of work. The sun is smiling, he’s passed his final test, and he’s got a cute maybe-boyfriend-thing.

 

As he enters the library, he does a double-take when he passes the front desk. And then he saunters up, smirking at Kris. “This suits you better,” he says, leaning over the counter, elbows propping him up. “The glasses are a nice touch.” Kris is wearing round spectacles which add a more of a librarian-feeling to him.

 

“Does it?” Kris asks, self consciously adjusting them. “Thanks.” He mirrors Baekhyun’s pose, though he has a lot more body to fold over the counter. “You look happy today. Did you pass your test?”

 

“I did!” Baekhyun says gleefully, taking Kris’s hands in his. “Do I get a prize?”

 

“You sure do,” Kris chuckles and leans over the rest of the way, capturing Baekhyun’s lips in a kiss. The kiss turns deeper as Kris starts to lick his way in and—

 

“Hey! No kissing over the counter!!”

 


End file.
